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| Look into my eyes and fail, MF. |
Every thought and argument takes the fact that the Los Angeles Galaxy is a terrible fucking soccer team in 2020 as a given. Dead last in the Western Conference, deep into the snipe hunt for worst defensive record in MLS (just four goals off the San Jose Earthquakes’ torrid pace of 45 goals allowed), and just two points ahead of FC Fucking Cincinnati? Live by Zlatan Ibrahimovic, as they have, you wilt like flowers in direct sun when he’s gone, baby.
Also, the Portland Timbers really seem to have their number. With tonight’s 5-2 win, the Timbers have scored 15 goals against the Galaxy this season and in just four games, more than 1/3 of LA’s total goals allowed for 2020 (this assumes the interns updated the current standings timely). The numbers just keep getting bigger for LA, too, seeing that the Timbers scored eleven of those two goals over their past two….just painfully lopsided wins. I mean, holy shit, LA…
What I want to lead with tonight are the 10-15 minutes that followed the half-time whistle. It wasn’t just that the Galaxy scored a goal inside the first minute so much as what happened afterwards that really sticks with me - largely because we’ve all seen it before. First, the opposition starts cutting out the passes that used to flow freely out of the Timbers back line; next thing you know, tackles get less crisp and timely in the defensive third and, about five minutes later, the whole goddamn Timbers defense can’t clear its lines with a free header or a clean boot. It doesn’t even take a good team to set off waves of panic - as proved by tonight’s Exhibit A, the LA Galaxy. Had they pulled the game to 3-2 by, say, the 58th minute, who knows? LA had their chances, and they pulled the Timbers all over all the way up until Eryk Williamson scored one not so much against the run of play as the laws of physics to restore the Timbers the three-goal lead they never quite gave up. Seriously, for all the moments of calm Portland managed, LA tied them on shots and pushed them hard for shots on goal - oh, and neither team polished a diamond in this one.
To return to a theme, and regardless of whether or not this counts as a late development - as in, the Timbers own the 2020 series 3-1-0, and with a +6 goal differential (15 gf, 9 ga), but the last two results (6-3 and 5-2, both for Portland) skew the hell out of the sample - the Timbers have pulled some snake-charmer shit on the Galaxy recently, just a whole thing of dazing them then fucking them up over and over and over.
The Galaxy plays a major part in this, in that they don’t do anything well in defense - or at least not in the last two games. For the length of the first half - i.e., the period when Portland went up 3-0 - whenever the Timbers got hold of the ball, the Galaxy’s defense and midfield arranged themselves in a certain set of spaces and…that was it, no serious attempt to win back the ball, no real intent to respond to Portland’s players or shifts in their movement (i.e., marking and tracking runners). They just…occupied space and enjoyed the show, only they didn’t, because jobs. On the evidence, the thought of pressing the passer never crossed anyone’s mind - I mean at all, never mind seriously.
But - and they owe those 10-15 promising minutes to it - LA started to hunt the ball at the beginning of the second half. This came after the goal Clark handed them (link above), and this showed the shaky outline of the team the Galaxy can be…but it all unwound after Williamson scored Portland’s fourth. From that moment forward, and isolated moments aside, their press collapsed because their players never closed off the easy second pass when one of their forwards (finally) pressured the passer, especially not in Portland’s end, and that gave Portland’s defenders easy outlets all over the field. Williamson’s goal probably came on the bleeding edge of the cracking, while Andy Polo’s second masterpiece of 2020 came closer to the back-end - of Portland’s interest/anxiety at least. It was a lovely goal and I don’t mean to take anything from it, but Yimmi Chara had days to pick out a wide-open Polo and that was the Galaxy’s night in a nutshell every bit as much as Pablo Bonilla’s languid pullback away from a lunging Cristian Pavon (scorer or both of LA’s goals, btw; here’s the other one). The Timbers played at a trot from there and...
In case it’s not clear by now, my big take-away from tonight’s rousing win is, don’t trust it. The Timbers remain vulnerable in defense and, when they play a better defensive team - italics intended to mean, there is no “if” scenario - they’ll neither go up three goals (including one justified, but still fortunate penalty kick), nor get two more so easily after 10-15 minutes of the raging vapors and coughing up goals that they seem to get every game. Better opposition is coming, in other words, just as sure as winter and a second/third wave of COVID.
On the plus side, none of the above changes my overall opinion of the Timbers: they can score against any team just as surely as any team can score against them. They’re couple steps ahead of the average team, overall, and that’s good enough to keep them competitive - even on the road. As such, I still like their chances.
Moving on to stray notes about this or that…
- I’d like to hear a Timbers’ Army chant for Dario Zuparic based on the chorus for The Kinks’ “Superman,” because 1) I’m a fan of him (and therefore forgive all his faults), and, 2) it’s a pretty ready vehicle for a chant, especially after a mighty headed clearance.
- Regardless of what anyone expected of him, I’m liking Yimmi Chara’s arc with the Timbers. Like a lot of players in the Timbers’ attack, he presents as crazy flexible - e.g., he can stretch the field, he can come inside and combine, he’s got good feet, etc. - which makes him another part of a strikingly dynamic attack that looks like it has a decent chance of lasting for as long as we can keep all the rather impressive new thoroughbreds in the stable - so that’s Yimmi, plus Jaroslaw Niezgoda and Felipe Mora.
- Related, Niezgoda is surprisingly good with his head and, holy shit, is there anything that guy doesn’t do well? (Don’t answer that, because I’m so happy right now.)
- Briefly, the Timbers have two “garbage games” ahead, so kindly rest some key players, you know who, but probably some others as well.
- The Timbers’ odd defensive lapses are the elephant that never left the room, and I don’t know how to reconcile that against my faith in the centerback pairing of Zuparic and Larrys Mabiala. Hell, I even like most combinations of fullback….so, what gives?
Maybe the Timbers will answer that last question by the end of the year, or maybe they’ll win MLS Cup and won’t have to answer it at all. All I know right now is that I can see either outcome. Till the next one...
Also, the Portland Timbers really seem to have their number. With tonight’s 5-2 win, the Timbers have scored 15 goals against the Galaxy this season and in just four games, more than 1/3 of LA’s total goals allowed for 2020 (this assumes the interns updated the current standings timely). The numbers just keep getting bigger for LA, too, seeing that the Timbers scored eleven of those two goals over their past two….just painfully lopsided wins. I mean, holy shit, LA…
What I want to lead with tonight are the 10-15 minutes that followed the half-time whistle. It wasn’t just that the Galaxy scored a goal inside the first minute so much as what happened afterwards that really sticks with me - largely because we’ve all seen it before. First, the opposition starts cutting out the passes that used to flow freely out of the Timbers back line; next thing you know, tackles get less crisp and timely in the defensive third and, about five minutes later, the whole goddamn Timbers defense can’t clear its lines with a free header or a clean boot. It doesn’t even take a good team to set off waves of panic - as proved by tonight’s Exhibit A, the LA Galaxy. Had they pulled the game to 3-2 by, say, the 58th minute, who knows? LA had their chances, and they pulled the Timbers all over all the way up until Eryk Williamson scored one not so much against the run of play as the laws of physics to restore the Timbers the three-goal lead they never quite gave up. Seriously, for all the moments of calm Portland managed, LA tied them on shots and pushed them hard for shots on goal - oh, and neither team polished a diamond in this one.
To return to a theme, and regardless of whether or not this counts as a late development - as in, the Timbers own the 2020 series 3-1-0, and with a +6 goal differential (15 gf, 9 ga), but the last two results (6-3 and 5-2, both for Portland) skew the hell out of the sample - the Timbers have pulled some snake-charmer shit on the Galaxy recently, just a whole thing of dazing them then fucking them up over and over and over.
The Galaxy plays a major part in this, in that they don’t do anything well in defense - or at least not in the last two games. For the length of the first half - i.e., the period when Portland went up 3-0 - whenever the Timbers got hold of the ball, the Galaxy’s defense and midfield arranged themselves in a certain set of spaces and…that was it, no serious attempt to win back the ball, no real intent to respond to Portland’s players or shifts in their movement (i.e., marking and tracking runners). They just…occupied space and enjoyed the show, only they didn’t, because jobs. On the evidence, the thought of pressing the passer never crossed anyone’s mind - I mean at all, never mind seriously.
But - and they owe those 10-15 promising minutes to it - LA started to hunt the ball at the beginning of the second half. This came after the goal Clark handed them (link above), and this showed the shaky outline of the team the Galaxy can be…but it all unwound after Williamson scored Portland’s fourth. From that moment forward, and isolated moments aside, their press collapsed because their players never closed off the easy second pass when one of their forwards (finally) pressured the passer, especially not in Portland’s end, and that gave Portland’s defenders easy outlets all over the field. Williamson’s goal probably came on the bleeding edge of the cracking, while Andy Polo’s second masterpiece of 2020 came closer to the back-end - of Portland’s interest/anxiety at least. It was a lovely goal and I don’t mean to take anything from it, but Yimmi Chara had days to pick out a wide-open Polo and that was the Galaxy’s night in a nutshell every bit as much as Pablo Bonilla’s languid pullback away from a lunging Cristian Pavon (scorer or both of LA’s goals, btw; here’s the other one). The Timbers played at a trot from there and...
In case it’s not clear by now, my big take-away from tonight’s rousing win is, don’t trust it. The Timbers remain vulnerable in defense and, when they play a better defensive team - italics intended to mean, there is no “if” scenario - they’ll neither go up three goals (including one justified, but still fortunate penalty kick), nor get two more so easily after 10-15 minutes of the raging vapors and coughing up goals that they seem to get every game. Better opposition is coming, in other words, just as sure as winter and a second/third wave of COVID.
On the plus side, none of the above changes my overall opinion of the Timbers: they can score against any team just as surely as any team can score against them. They’re couple steps ahead of the average team, overall, and that’s good enough to keep them competitive - even on the road. As such, I still like their chances.
Moving on to stray notes about this or that…
- I’d like to hear a Timbers’ Army chant for Dario Zuparic based on the chorus for The Kinks’ “Superman,” because 1) I’m a fan of him (and therefore forgive all his faults), and, 2) it’s a pretty ready vehicle for a chant, especially after a mighty headed clearance.
- Regardless of what anyone expected of him, I’m liking Yimmi Chara’s arc with the Timbers. Like a lot of players in the Timbers’ attack, he presents as crazy flexible - e.g., he can stretch the field, he can come inside and combine, he’s got good feet, etc. - which makes him another part of a strikingly dynamic attack that looks like it has a decent chance of lasting for as long as we can keep all the rather impressive new thoroughbreds in the stable - so that’s Yimmi, plus Jaroslaw Niezgoda and Felipe Mora.
- Related, Niezgoda is surprisingly good with his head and, holy shit, is there anything that guy doesn’t do well? (Don’t answer that, because I’m so happy right now.)
- Briefly, the Timbers have two “garbage games” ahead, so kindly rest some key players, you know who, but probably some others as well.
- The Timbers’ odd defensive lapses are the elephant that never left the room, and I don’t know how to reconcile that against my faith in the centerback pairing of Zuparic and Larrys Mabiala. Hell, I even like most combinations of fullback….so, what gives?
Maybe the Timbers will answer that last question by the end of the year, or maybe they’ll win MLS Cup and won’t have to answer it at all. All I know right now is that I can see either outcome. Till the next one...
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